Building material composition



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. COMPOSITIONS,

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(Ob/e Patented June 20, 1933 IRA E. CRAMER, OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS,

PATENT OFFICE ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO LUCIUS O.

CRAMER, OF CONNERSVHILE INDIANA BUILDING MATERIAL COMPOSITION N0 Drawing. Application filed April 10,

This invention relates to a new building material composition made of a concrete composed for the most part of etroleum coke and Portland cement combined as heredescrlbed; and'has for its object to provide an economical and much needed uilding material 'in such districts of the United States as cannot be entered and supplied by products of the steam boiler cinder now on the market. Therefore, this invention is an effort to create the best light weight insulating building unit possible to obtain where cinders are not obtainable. Petrolgun 1 coke is generally abundant in the 'Very dis- 1 tricfswhich lack coal cinders. As a result of experiments I have discovered ways to prepare and so handle this coke as to utilize it in makinga new and useful building unit which is light durable and practical in servme an possesses 11g msulatmg qualltles.

Thus the use of this petroleum coke for building units effects the salvage of a petroleum by product now being mostly wasted, as obviously it is not in demand for fuel at the very place where oil is plentiful and more convenient to handle for burning. The product of this invention has lost the fireproof property of the cinder product, yet, on the other hand, there is gained a characteristic in this new product that not only improves but actually perfects carbon products as a material for the body part of an ideal veneer slab or block, for veneerin g frame residences.

To clearly describe this invention, so it may be readily understood, it is necessary to explain the essential difference between the coal cinder and this certain kind of coke, called petroleum coke. The coal cinder used in concrete is coal after it has ceased to burn, that is, after it has ceased to flame. It is coal from which the gaseous or volatile constituents have burnt, but which retains carbon capable only of further combustion Without flame; in other Words, it is the hard core /of coal left after other parts have been burrit. But petroleum coke strictly speaking isnot a cinder or ember; it is different; it has not yet been burnt; it is the dregs or final dross of the distilling process that makes gasoline, etc. While strictly speaking, it is not coal, or at 1930. Serial No. 443,256.

least not natural coal, yet it is more similar to coal and is used as fuel in the same mannerit is inflammable. Hence the manufacturers of cinder concrete products have not considered petroleum coke as fit material to enter their fireproof building units, and they do not employ it in their products.

Again, petroleum coke materially differs from coal cinder in another respect, i. e.,

is not hard like said cinder or hard core of coal, but is comparatively soft and tender and has never, to the best of my knowledge, been utilized, as suitable material for concrete. Still another and characteristic difference is the relatively large size of the cavities or pores of petroleum coke, and it is this feature that makes it, for concrete purposes, so much superior to coal and so much different in kind from the steam boiler cinder.

It is the last two above cited characteristics of petroleum coke, i. e., its comparatively soft or tender nature and its comparatively large cavities or pores, that for building materlal so greatly distinguishes it from coal coke and all kinds of cinders heretofore used in the manufacture of building units. Its tenderness makes necessary a different process of using it than is used on other materials. It is the cavities or pores, above mentioned, which particularly adapt the material for use in making veneer slabs and blocks. These cavities being larger in petroleum coke, are on the average more round and pocket-shaped, often partly closed over at the surface of the lump. This allows little streams of the cement, reduced with water to a soupy or creamy state, to flow into said cavities forming roots, which dove-tail into the coke lump. These roots connected to the desired surface ing coat, (such as of sand-cement plasters, stucco, etc.) will anchor the surfacin material so it will be less likely to peel off, ecause where the said surfacing is applied in mold or at time of making the veneer block or slab, the above mentioned feature combined with the necessary extra portion of cement content in the aggregate qualifies this product to grip and hold such surfacing material so much more firmly than can any product of the steam boiler cinder, and such like.

Examine! The present invention shows that this coke can be made fit for building material; 1t can be semi-fire proofed, and at the same time its degree of firmness be suitably reinforced, by simply leveling up to the surface the outside layer of large peculiar pores, filling them with Portland cement, (or else with a mortar made of the cement and very finely divided parts of this same coke about the size of fine sand grains). This, after it sets, makes a hard casing or shell wall within the surface of the coke lump itself without submerging its farther projecting web; this miniature incasing wall employs the common arch or egg-shell principle. supplies needed crushing strength to the individual lump and makes it sufficiently firm to endure mixing and molding without crushing.

This aforesaid reinforcing wall can be built in said outside layer of coke pores in filling them, by either of several different modes, without departing from this invention. In one way, for instance, the larger individual lumps of coke can be spread in a single layer on a wide wire cloth belt inclined and vibrated so as to gently roll the coke lumps while pouring over them a thin soupy mortar. Said mortar can be made by wetting and mixing pure Portland cement or combined equal parts cement and coke, the latter finely divided into grains of the size of fine grade of ordinary masonry sand. Any process which attains this end, and fills with aforesaid material, or similar material, the peculiar surface pores of said petroleum coke lumps, is comprehended by this invention. Even without this advance hardening of the larger lumps. a suflicient careful method can be employed to avoid crushing in mixing or mold ing. thus, without departing from this invention, the same final product may be reached. In the latter case, the portion of cement, or mortar, required to fill said surface pores being added to that portion of cement required to stick each lump to the others, and hardens at the same time. And it is when employing this method of manufacture, suitable surfacing material, (sand-cement plaster or stucco, etc.), placed on the proper building unit while molding it, results in an ideal veneer slab or block.

According to the present invention, con- Crete for my novel product is prepared by mixing together the following ingredients approximately in the following proportions, and in the manner hereinafter set forth Petroleum coke, three (3) parts by measure, Portland cement one (1) part by measure, although these proportions can be varied from to meet conditions without departing this invention. For instance where it is desired to mold my product into very small building units, possibly as small as standard size brick, it will be found more suitable to screen out the larger lumps of petroleum coke, and to use only pieces ranging in size, from about wheat-grain size to corn-grain size, and this will require a larger proportion of cement than is required where much larger building units are desired and where therefore a considerable proportion of the larger lumps of petroleum coke, (ranging from hickory nut size to egg size or larger) can be included in the mixture. Also where the material is desired to stand up under heavy weight or stand severe stresses and shocks, the proportion of Portland cement can be increased accordingly, and where there is not expected to be much strain or stress the proportion of petroleum coke can be accordingly increased. Therefore the proportion of petroleum coke and Portland cement may considerably differ under aforementioned conditions such as the varying sized building units desired, (making convenient the use of varying proportions of larger and smaller lumps of petroleum coke) and also due to varying amount of strength desired.

On one extreme, where the coke is much powdered and consists at best only of very small grains, with small building units and much strength desired, a fifty-fifty mixture may be needed, i. e. equal arts by measure of the coke and cement. n the other extreme where the powdered coke is eliminated by screening it out and the smallest pieces used being about wheat-grain size, and corngrain size, and only enough of these sizes to form a filling between much larger lumps, for molding into large units, preparing for small stress or strain, one (1) part by measure of Portland cement may be found sufficient to mix with four to six (4 to 6) parts of petroleum coke. And between these two extremes varying conditions will require many varying proportions of the coke and cement contents.

The preferred manner of mixing the petroleum coke and Portland cement is first to dry mix them together and then mix in suflicient water to mush the mixture and to insure that the Portland cement will set hard after the mixture has been pressed into molds to form building block or wall units, etc.

Anyone skilled in mixing and molding concrete can mix petroleum concrete and mold it into building units, without first experimenting, if they will observe the following very simple rules, namely First.Eliminate the powder part from petroleum coke by screening it out. Also (by screening) grade the remaining coke into lump sizes to suit immediate requirements and conditions.

Second.Consider the size of grains or lumps desired to be mixed and the degree of strength desired, and for like amount of same which would require two (2) bags of COMPOSITIONS,

COATING 0n PLASTIC.

cement to mix it, if it were sands, gravels, or cinders of same size, use for this coke at least three (3) bags of Portland cement.

Third-Mix this coke concrete without grinding it, (as under a hoe in cases of sand and gravel concrete), or else the larger lumps will continually crush into smaller pieces and require adding more cement to maintain a given desired richness of mixture. Mix by running hoe or shovel under it and turning over, or in type of cement mixer that most gently rolls it until mixed. First dry-mix it, then wet it mush stage; use molds adapted to wet process molding, and press it in mold instead of sharp tamping it, thus avoiding crushing of larger lumps while molding.

Reinforcing agents, such as expanded metal lath, reinforcing wire or rods, metal screen cloth, etc., may if desired be incorporated or embedded in the cement-coke concrete, particularly when employed in the construction of silo walls and the like, or when molded into lintels, slabs, beams, etc., where maximum strength is desired.

Where a surfacing coat, such as of sandcement plaster, stucco, etc., is applied at time of molding these building units, color material may be included in such surfacing coat without departing from this invention, yet any such surfacing is not a part of this invention beyond the discovery of'this par-. ticular inherent quality of petroleum coke concrete without which it would lack such extraordinary ability to grip and hold surfacing material.

Having thus described my invention what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A new material for molding int-o building blocks comprising the hereinafter men tioned substances in substantially the following proportions; etroleum coke lum 5 three parts and bmder one part, said Binder comprising Egfilanc] semen: and petroleum ggke fines.

. new article of manufacture, a light molded non-sweating building unit that can be nailed into and sawed, comprising lumps of petroleum oil coke providing interior and exterior cells, said lumps being bound together by and having their exterior cells only filled with a mortar mixture of cement and a substantial quantity of particles of petroleum oil coke in lieu of sand.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

IRA E. CRAMER.

" Examiner i 

